Sonnet

I LISTENED in the night: you spoke to me
Softly, so very softly, one quiet word,
Still sleeping, and your gentle breath I heard
Moving with the rhythm of the distant sea.
Moon-shadows like the shadows in a tree
Fluttered about your breasts, or like a bird
Flitting among green leaves; and then you stirred,
And oh! I saw your eyes, or seemed to see.
But seemed, oh! too beloved ghost, but seemed,
For though I think I never saw more clear
Your throat, your lips, your cheeks, your eyes that teemed
With longing, the crisp hair about your ear,
The very way you waked, I merely dreamed
And you are still alone, and nowhere near.